B MASSACHUSETTS: EDGARTOWN DISTRICT. 261 



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via Wood's IIoll, aucl iu smacks. The managers of at least two of the pounds are accustomed 

 to carry their fish iii their own boats to Wood's Holl, whence they are shipped to market by Mr. 

 Spiudel. The menhaden and alewives, however, are usually sold to Gloucester fishing vessels for 

 bait. The weirs vary in value from $200 to $400, but several of them originally cost from $800 to 

 $1,000. 



There exists oa the western side of Menemsha Bight a hamlet of about 14 small temporary 

 buildings, or shanties, as they are called, known as Lobsterville, in which a number of men, all or 

 nearly all lobster fishermen, live during the summer. Forty boats were employed in Ihc fishery 

 iu 1880, of which perhaps one-half carry two men. From each boat about 40 pots -are set, and 

 the total number of pots iu use is about 1,600. Iu 1879 only fourteen boats and about 560 lobster 

 pots were in use. Lobsters were much more abundant in 1879 than in 1880. In the former year 

 the catch was 268,800 lobsters; in the latter year, about 200,000 lobsters. The season begins late 

 iu April and usually lasts about four mouths. At Gay Dead there is a remnant of the former 

 Indian possessors of the island. 



83. NO MAN'S LAND AND ITS FISHERIES. 



No MAN'S LAND. The island known as No Man's Laud is situated south of the western 

 extremity of Martha's Vineyard, at a distance of about 4 miles. It is a low, sandy island of very 

 small proportions, and is uninhabited except by fishermen, all but two or three of whom remove 

 to Martha's Vineyard at the end of the fishing seasons iu spring and fall. W T hile on the island they 

 live in some 25 small houses, valued at about $100 each. The only fisheries are for cod and 

 lobsters. The cod fishery, which is carried on for a few weeks iu spring and fall, was eugaged in 

 iu 1879 by about forty men, who employed some thirty-five boats. The cod taken during that 

 year amounted to not more than 140,000 pounds when salted and dried. This is a much less quan- 

 tity than was taken in some preceding years, but is more than has been taken since. There has 

 been a constant diminution. The value of the apparatus employed, including boats, tackle, &c., 

 and the single herring net carried by each boat amounts to not more than $6,000. 



A number of fishermen, varying from twelve to fifteen or twenty, engage in lobster fishing 

 every year. The number of lobsters taken has been decreasing, and in 1881 amounted to not 

 more than 15,000 in the aggregate. 



84. THE ELIZABETH ISLES. 



GOSNOLD. The Elizabeth Isles is a group of sixteen small islands that together constitute 

 the town of Gosnold. They are separated from Cape Cod by a narrow channel, and extend 1C 

 miles toward the southwest, forming the boundary between Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound. 

 The resident population of the group in 1870 was 99. Commencing toward Cape Cod, the islands 

 are called Naushon, 8 miles long and 1 wide ; Pasque, about 2 miles long ; Nashawena, 3 miles ; and 

 Cuttyhunk, 2 miles. A narrow channel separates the islands. The island of Cuttyhunk was 

 named Elizabeth Island by Gosnold, but that name is now given to the group. Until 18G4 these 

 islands belonged to the town of Chilmark. They are noted for their beauty and climate, and are 

 a favorite summer resort of New Yorkers for boating and fishing purposes. Tarpaulin Cove, on the 

 east shore of Naushon, is a harbor much frequented by wind-bound vessels on their way between 

 Boston and New York. Some Noank fishermen come here in the summer for trap fishing. The 

 product of their industry is included iu the statistics for Connecticut. 



Cuttyhuuk Island is the most southerly of the Elizabeth Isles, and is about 2 miles long 

 and a mile broad. The land is high. It contains a hamlet of sixteen buildings, including the school- 



